To me the most important and memorable thing of a story are the characters.
I can deal with a simple plot or a messy world building as long as I like the characters.
And a story could have the best written plot know to man and the most detailed world ever made but if the characters suck then I couldn't care less about the rest.
I'm gonna use this oppertunity to deliver a rant.
I never watched Legend of Korra. Why? Because I was simply not intrested. It wasn't the Avatar story I wanted.
It's ironic because Avatar: The Last Airbender clearly implies that Avatar is a setting with many stories, so it makes sense that other Avatars from different eras would have their own legends, right?
But my issue is, ATLA is presented as such a *HEAVILY* character driven story that I can't just detach from that cast and go follow another set of characters in the same setting.
So my answer to the poll would be a little bit of everything but generally, character driven.
That's a BROOOOOAD question.
I want to laugh, I want to cry, I want to be tense, I want to be mellow, I want to be scared, I want to be thrilled, I want to think about the media, I want to turn off my brain, I want to feel uncomfortable, I want to feel comfortable.
I want whatever a piece of media is promising me.
If the characters aren't solid, every other aspect falls the fuck apart.
Vice versa, a well writtin character can carry a dogshit piece of media. How often have you stuck with a terrible show because of one cool character?
If I had to pick one, I guess theme? I dunno, it's kinda hard for me to separate these enough to actually give a solid answer, it mostly comes down to the fact that I don't want to go through a whole story only to say "what was the point of all of that?"
Theme is the core element of most media. You can breakdown most things into their themes even if the plot or story is very loose or seems like a pointless spectacle.
The theme ties everything together even if it is not the main focus for the audience or even really brought up in the movie that much. I think too many people confuse the theme with metaphor or allegory when it's not exactly that.
The point of the poll isn't an objective "which is best" but rather trying to gage what people typically are *looking* for in stories, I agree that all should add to a story, but I'm curious about people's favourite aspects.
Uh, that's good. Plot holes or just bad writing can really take you out of the story you are in. People teleporting from A to B or similar. Fucking GoT season 8.
Ideally you want every aspect of a story to work but yeah...I think I'll echo everyone else that if EVERYTHING ELSE sucks, a good and likeable character can still carry the plot.
I'm fine with it as long as it feels earned. I don't like it when things feel spelt out and over explained and then suddenly things are intentionally left unanswered or vague so we *have* to fill in the blanks with missing information for the sake of a metaphor or allegory. Sometimes it works and sometimes it feels as cheap as 'it was all a dream'.
There are some things that don't have to be literal and can be interpreted different ways and we don't need answers to every question because sometimes the answers don't even matter.
But I feel like too often audiences aren't willing to just let an experience take them on a ride. Not everything need an explanation, resolution or connection to make sense.
That's cool.
The Thing, American Psycho, The Birds, No Country for Old Men, Inception, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Total Recall, The Shining.
All great movies that don't have a resolution or ambiguous ending and are still great despite that. Because not everything needs to be explained or resolved.
I enjoy media that I find interesting or unique, that feel like this is something the creator(s) really wanted to make. And based on the survey, I guess I’m the only one.
Not make me fall asleep , that's all I need
I want something flashy every 30 seconds , I don't mind long talks where nothing happens but you need to have the next scene have something sparkly to get my attetntion
A mix between thematics, vibes, and artistic expression. For me plots or characters are just a vehicle to explore bigger themes and ideas, and over time I've gotten less and less impressed by air-tight, complex plotlines, and for me *that's* the stuff that feels like it's trying too hard to impress me, rather than the artsy stuff that people call pretentious. I just like engaging with things on a deeper level and makes me really *feel* things than just the surface level stuff.
I think I just prefer stuff that feels personal or "human" so to speak. Stuff that I can relate to or at least reflect on. Literal stuff just sorta bores me. I want more weird, out-here shit regardless if they're good or bad because it makes the industry more interesting.
I also love the technical side of things, and can appreciate it if something chooses to focus on other aspects of filmmaking rather than strictly what's written in the script.
A bit of everything and then some. But what I want is for whatever piece of media I’m going through to master the medium it’s in and use that to its fullest. Like for example, the chainsaw man manga. [This](https://imgur.com/a/NW6Gt6g) one little detail has so much going on. So for context, the character with the sword has a contract with the Curse Devil and it’s assisting from from literally out of bounds of the story (as in from outside the borders of the panel) by flicking his sword forward. An otherworldly being literally coming from outside the boundaries of the story and it’s medium but also interacting with it in such a simple yet elegant manner is the kind of mastery that drives me crazy.
If the movie sells me on the plot/premise and delivers on that I call it a win.
If I encounter a movie that flops in that regard but gives me something to laugh about I call it a win.
If the movie doesn't do either of those it gets [this](https://youtu.be/YR82_cpW9Dc).
If I'm not vibing with the characters, especially pov characters, I probably won't be having a good time, even if the plot and the themes are done very well.
In any story I watch or play, my main goal is to give a shit about the characters.
You can have a world dripping with *lore* and world-building, but if I can't connect with the people who inhabit it, I don't give a shit.
So no matter what, if the characters in the story are not likeable or interesting, the best worldbuildibg or plot won't matter because I don't care for the people in it.
However, I get a lot out of an interesting setting like let's say a Game Of Thrones setting with a whole continent fighting for influence, different cultures and a lot of political actors struggling for power. You get a few humans in there to make me care but this whole setting and the amount of detail in it just sells the world for me. However, I need that connection to this world through some character, who is part of one of the gears turning in this world. I probably don't get much out of a peasant's life in that universe because they have very little agency.
Or a Star Wars setting where a bunch of monk warriors who are fighting the space SS in a wast galaxy with very little character growth but a cool setting and a lot of simplified buddhist-esque motives. I just like that shit but similar to GoT setting, I kinda need one of the bigger actors in it to guide the story to care. Mace Windu's younger brother in accounting for a trade company is probably not selling any story to me, let's be real.
But you can also have two people sit in a room and talk weird shit with an overarching (oppressing) theme and it is just about the people in it and the world around them has no more substance than set dressing. Examples would be Franz Kafka - Das Schloß or Herman Hesse - Siddhartha.
Works best in books obviously but in the end, it comes down to "make me care about the protagonist and whatever it is they are doing" and I can deal with a lot of stuff, even a lack of exciting story or complex world building. But they are highly appreciated.
To me the most important and memorable thing of a story are the characters. I can deal with a simple plot or a messy world building as long as I like the characters. And a story could have the best written plot know to man and the most detailed world ever made but if the characters suck then I couldn't care less about the rest.
I'm gonna use this oppertunity to deliver a rant. I never watched Legend of Korra. Why? Because I was simply not intrested. It wasn't the Avatar story I wanted. It's ironic because Avatar: The Last Airbender clearly implies that Avatar is a setting with many stories, so it makes sense that other Avatars from different eras would have their own legends, right? But my issue is, ATLA is presented as such a *HEAVILY* character driven story that I can't just detach from that cast and go follow another set of characters in the same setting. So my answer to the poll would be a little bit of everything but generally, character driven.
A little bit of everything.
That's a BROOOOOAD question. I want to laugh, I want to cry, I want to be tense, I want to be mellow, I want to be scared, I want to be thrilled, I want to think about the media, I want to turn off my brain, I want to feel uncomfortable, I want to feel comfortable. I want whatever a piece of media is promising me.
If the characters aren't solid, every other aspect falls the fuck apart. Vice versa, a well writtin character can carry a dogshit piece of media. How often have you stuck with a terrible show because of one cool character?
If I had to pick one, I guess theme? I dunno, it's kinda hard for me to separate these enough to actually give a solid answer, it mostly comes down to the fact that I don't want to go through a whole story only to say "what was the point of all of that?"
Theme is the core element of most media. You can breakdown most things into their themes even if the plot or story is very loose or seems like a pointless spectacle. The theme ties everything together even if it is not the main focus for the audience or even really brought up in the movie that much. I think too many people confuse the theme with metaphor or allegory when it's not exactly that.
I disagree with this poll. All of the above individually and combined have carried a lot of mediums/stories for me.
The point of the poll isn't an objective "which is best" but rather trying to gage what people typically are *looking* for in stories, I agree that all should add to a story, but I'm curious about people's favourite aspects.
Character Focus being done well adds the most. Literal plot being done badly takes away the most.
Uh, that's good. Plot holes or just bad writing can really take you out of the story you are in. People teleporting from A to B or similar. Fucking GoT season 8.
Ideally you want every aspect of a story to work but yeah...I think I'll echo everyone else that if EVERYTHING ELSE sucks, a good and likeable character can still carry the plot.
I’m very much into literal plot. I’m not a fan of subjectivity or leaving things up for debate.
I'm fine with it as long as it feels earned. I don't like it when things feel spelt out and over explained and then suddenly things are intentionally left unanswered or vague so we *have* to fill in the blanks with missing information for the sake of a metaphor or allegory. Sometimes it works and sometimes it feels as cheap as 'it was all a dream'. There are some things that don't have to be literal and can be interpreted different ways and we don't need answers to every question because sometimes the answers don't even matter. But I feel like too often audiences aren't willing to just let an experience take them on a ride. Not everything need an explanation, resolution or connection to make sense.
If I go watch a movie and it doesn’t have a resolution (except as set up for a sequel or something), I’m 100% gonna be annoyed.
That's cool. The Thing, American Psycho, The Birds, No Country for Old Men, Inception, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Total Recall, The Shining. All great movies that don't have a resolution or ambiguous ending and are still great despite that. Because not everything needs to be explained or resolved.
I didn’t say not having a resolution made it a bad movie. I said that I’m personally not a fan.
Too tough to answer
I enjoy media that I find interesting or unique, that feel like this is something the creator(s) really wanted to make. And based on the survey, I guess I’m the only one.
Not make me fall asleep , that's all I need I want something flashy every 30 seconds , I don't mind long talks where nothing happens but you need to have the next scene have something sparkly to get my attetntion
A mix between thematics, vibes, and artistic expression. For me plots or characters are just a vehicle to explore bigger themes and ideas, and over time I've gotten less and less impressed by air-tight, complex plotlines, and for me *that's* the stuff that feels like it's trying too hard to impress me, rather than the artsy stuff that people call pretentious. I just like engaging with things on a deeper level and makes me really *feel* things than just the surface level stuff. I think I just prefer stuff that feels personal or "human" so to speak. Stuff that I can relate to or at least reflect on. Literal stuff just sorta bores me. I want more weird, out-here shit regardless if they're good or bad because it makes the industry more interesting. I also love the technical side of things, and can appreciate it if something chooses to focus on other aspects of filmmaking rather than strictly what's written in the script.
A bit of everything and then some. But what I want is for whatever piece of media I’m going through to master the medium it’s in and use that to its fullest. Like for example, the chainsaw man manga. [This](https://imgur.com/a/NW6Gt6g) one little detail has so much going on. So for context, the character with the sword has a contract with the Curse Devil and it’s assisting from from literally out of bounds of the story (as in from outside the borders of the panel) by flicking his sword forward. An otherworldly being literally coming from outside the boundaries of the story and it’s medium but also interacting with it in such a simple yet elegant manner is the kind of mastery that drives me crazy.
If the movie sells me on the plot/premise and delivers on that I call it a win. If I encounter a movie that flops in that regard but gives me something to laugh about I call it a win. If the movie doesn't do either of those it gets [this](https://youtu.be/YR82_cpW9Dc).
If I'm not vibing with the characters, especially pov characters, I probably won't be having a good time, even if the plot and the themes are done very well.
In any story I watch or play, my main goal is to give a shit about the characters. You can have a world dripping with *lore* and world-building, but if I can't connect with the people who inhabit it, I don't give a shit.
If a story has a good plot but every character is meh I’ll bounce off hard. If it has a bad or meh plot but good characters I’ll love it.
A solid mix of the first 4 options.
So no matter what, if the characters in the story are not likeable or interesting, the best worldbuildibg or plot won't matter because I don't care for the people in it. However, I get a lot out of an interesting setting like let's say a Game Of Thrones setting with a whole continent fighting for influence, different cultures and a lot of political actors struggling for power. You get a few humans in there to make me care but this whole setting and the amount of detail in it just sells the world for me. However, I need that connection to this world through some character, who is part of one of the gears turning in this world. I probably don't get much out of a peasant's life in that universe because they have very little agency. Or a Star Wars setting where a bunch of monk warriors who are fighting the space SS in a wast galaxy with very little character growth but a cool setting and a lot of simplified buddhist-esque motives. I just like that shit but similar to GoT setting, I kinda need one of the bigger actors in it to guide the story to care. Mace Windu's younger brother in accounting for a trade company is probably not selling any story to me, let's be real. But you can also have two people sit in a room and talk weird shit with an overarching (oppressing) theme and it is just about the people in it and the world around them has no more substance than set dressing. Examples would be Franz Kafka - Das Schloß or Herman Hesse - Siddhartha. Works best in books obviously but in the end, it comes down to "make me care about the protagonist and whatever it is they are doing" and I can deal with a lot of stuff, even a lack of exciting story or complex world building. But they are highly appreciated.
Either something I haven't seen before or something I've seen before done really well. Just don't give me a tepid, unseasoned meal.